May 12, 2011 | Landscape Photography
Seriously, no windy, I have three or four thousands clicks on this group of trees on the ridge! I just love them, their symmetry and location for sunrises. So when I saw the God beams, this is where I wanted to run. When I got here, it did not disappoint.
The top click is the first one (actually 5) that I made. I stopped to do this because the clouds were moving quickly, quicker then I could so I wanted at least this shot in case I couldn’t improve it. I liked the bottom shot the best. I moved about 70 yards to the west to line up the God Beams better with the trees on the ridge. Luckily the God beams hung in there for me and I could make the shot I had provisioned 15min earlier a mile away. And while I like this bottom shot a lot, I didn’t know that two miles further west I would make the best shot of the morning. To see that shot, you’ll have to come back tomorrow. All of these shots were made the same way, 5 images HDR, AWB, -1 at f/4 with the 24-120VR lens handheld.
May 12, 2011 | Landscape Photography
“Racing” in the Suburban down the road, stopped at the first good foreground I had in my mind. I made a couple of clicks but knew I could do better…so off I went. Same technique and gear used to make this image as last post. Off we chase for better….
May 12, 2011 | Landscape Photography
When it comes to God beams, I don’t know of any location that produces them more consistently at sunrise then the Black Hills & Badlands in SD. This morning was no exception. There are two major challenges in my mind when taking good God beam photographs, exposure and foreground. Without control on those two key elements, all you have IMHO is mud.
These days, the exposure is pretty darn simple. Yeap, HDR and these are 5 image captures, shot handheld on the fly. HDR makes it pretty simple to capture the large exposure range with the subtleties in between. While Photomatixs did the heavy lifting in the finishing, the true finishing was done in PS. It makes all the difference in the world! But while I have the exposure, I don’t have the foreground so these images are just OK at best in my book. Better can be made. Knowing the Black Hills, I knew exactly where I wanted to speed to get the right foreground. Stay Tuned…..
Photos captured by D3x, 24-120VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Apr 28, 2011 | Landscape Photography
And after a couple of hours, I was mentally spent! There is only so much I can do and then my mind says no more when it comes to finding subjects in the macro world. I know better then to keep pushing myself because that’s when the delete button becomes your best friend. So I went outside, sat down and watched the light change. That’s when I saw these really simple clicks.
I’m probably funny in that way, but I just don’t see going nuts for a photo when it’s going to suck. Oh yeah, I can take suckie photographs with the best of them but I really try to avoid it. I realized long ago that my suckie images come from pushing the photograph, this kind of guilt that since I’m out and have a camera in my hand I should be shooting when, there really is nothing showing me any love at that moment. When this happens, I’ve found that if I just sit down, watch life go by for fifteen or twenty minutes that the mind will clear out, the light changes enough for new treasures to be found and creativity comes back to my mind. I have a large collection of window photos. I have no freakin clue what I will ever do with them all, I rarely is ever share them so I thought I would this time just because.
Photo captured by D3x, 105VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Apr 28, 2011 | Landscape Photography
With the 105VR in hand, I pushed myself to find more details, macro shots that I could make that I actually liked. I hate shooting because I feel I should be because I know there is something in front of me even though I can’t find it. It’s was a called a “forced” photo, which is a nice way of saying it sucks! So I went into moth mode, seeking light!
I always go into the print shop since as a kid, I worked in one and really enjoyed the process. I’m not so old I set type but I sure did learn about it which is what you’re seeing in these top two photos. Drawers where the type was stored, one letter at a time. With the 105VR, I focused in on patterns, color, and texture and made a couple of clicks that I really like. I’m still hand holding, using the same settings but this time, I’m holding the lens up to the plexiglass keeping honest folks honest.
Wondering into the next building I came to this wall of old radios. I looked at them for a moment, they were lit with plane old exhibit lighting. Then I saw this one radio face and noticed the grain in the wood so walked over and took a closer look. The radio dial have Havana, Mexico City, all sorts of places that I wouldn’t think you’d tune your radio into, especially back when this thing was in use.
And then into the doctors office I went where there are a TON of photographs to be made. I was intrigued with all the bottles on the glass shelf in the windows and started to look for one that might not be light directly by the sun. I found this one and was delighted with the play of light wrapping around the bottles. I was shooting with the 105micro still so I took my time to line up the lines and compose what you see to include everything else all around the bottles. This is really not my kind of photography but by this point was feeling pretty good about my efforts so took the time to make the shot. Not bad for a guy is sucks at macros!
Photos captured by D3x, 105VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
Apr 28, 2011 | Landscape Photography
I think these pieces of our past are just fascinating subjects. The sun was bouncing off the naked wood just in front of it bouncing in some nice light so I walked over to make a click. I put the camera to my eye and for the next ten minutes cussed and sweared as I tried to find one, single, bloody, solitary plum line! I turned the camera this way and that, click, click, click, cuss, cuss, cuss, click, click. I tried every way I could think, I ever went so far as to Free Transform trying to make it look “right” but as you can see, no such luck. Of course, that’s part of its character and charm, but I like at least one line to look right in a photo!
Photo captured by D3x, 105VR on Lexar UDMA digital film
